Vehicle hits hydrant on Century Drive, sends 300,000 gallons of water into street

The city of Sherwood is offering a $3,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the motorist in a vehicle that ran into a Century Drive fire hydrant on Feb. 5 causing extensive flooding and damage to the street and sidewalk.

Also, in a unique move, if the person who caused the incident comes forward, they will be granted amnesty from criminal prosecution, according to city officials. However, that person may not collect a reward.

At issue is a vehicle that struck the hydrant on the street, which is east of Walmart, sending an estimated 300,000 gallons of water spewing down the street, damaging a section of the street before it was contained.

The incident occurred just before 11:30 p.m. and Sherwood Public Works staff isolated a section of the water mainline on the north side of Century Drive about 30 minutes later, according to Public Works Director Craig Sheldon.

Sheldon said a vehicle apparently drove up on the curb and sidewalk, struck a hydrant and created a leak.

The impact on the vehicle hitting the hydrant caused a shearing of the underground water main. As a result, Century Drive was closed until the morning of Feb. 6, said Sheldon.

Workers soon discovered that the accident damaged the water system, storm water maintenance infrastructure and other subsurface utilities along with the street, curbs and sidewalk. As a result, 300 to 400 lineal feet of roadway will likely need to be rebuilt or repaired, a project that is estimated to begin in six to eight weeks.

A check of system monitors showed that the incident occurred around 10:30 p.m. on Feb. 5, meaning that water was flowing for an hour and 45 minutes before it was contained, causing roughly 2,700 gallons of water per minute to escape before it was contained. No customers experienced water interruptions, said Sheldon.